VW to Recall 370,000 Vehicles over Takata Airbags on a Five-Year Schedule

In a three-phase recall over the course of four years, VW will recall roughly 370,000 of its vehicles due to the risk posed by their Takata airbags.

The recall will eventually cover the 2012 to 2019 VW Beetle and Beetle convertible and the 2011 to 2014 Passat.

The announcement came as NHTSA revealed that 56 million of the Takata airbags don't need to be recalled.

In a statement yesterday regarding another batch of vehicles with Takata airbags under investigation, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) also announced an agreement that, beginning at the end of the year, several models of Volkswagen vehicles will be recalled. The VWs have an increased risk of the Takata airbags in those vehicles not working properly years after they were built, the agency said.

NHTSA said in the announcement that it has been looking into inflators with a chemical substance known as phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate (PSAN) which can degrade in high temperatures and when exposed to humidity. To prevent the degradation, the PSAN inflators were built with a desiccant, or drying agent.

The regulatory body decided that 56 million of these inflators do not need to be recalled but said that the ones in certain VW vehicles could pose an eventual risk to occupants. As a result, over the next four years in a three-phase recall, VW will recall 370,000 vehicles. The phase system was chosen because the inflators differ and degrade at different rates, so the affected vehicles don’t need to have the airbags replaced all at once.

In the first phase, which begins at the end of this year, the 2012 to 2014 Beetle and Beetle convertible will be recalled. Then, in the second phase beginning on January 1, 2023, the 2015 to 2016 Beetle and Beetle convertible will be recalled. And then in the final phase, beginning on January 1, 2025, the 2017 to 2019 Beetle and Beetle convertible as well as the 2011 to 2014 Passat will be recalled.

Those affected by the recall can visit the NHTSA website for more information.

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